Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

GazerRise Fantastic!

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

DKosty123 There is always a lot of fun for old Topper and this movie is no exception. Along for the ride here is Joan Blondell (always a great addition to any movie), Billie Burke, Paty Kelly, and some classic comedy bits from Eddie (Rochester) Anderson. This Hal Roach produced film is a delight from start to finish.There of course are some strange goings on, with cars having blowouts and a woman sitting on Toppers lap. Of course Topper gets dragged into this while kicking and screaming trying to stay out of it. This time Rochester is Toppers driver. A brand new tire blows out to start the film.This one has enough spooky happenings that it could be really serious but the great thing about any Topper film is the button down comedy of old Topper being hounded by Ghost and spirited ones. All the Topper Films and the classic TV Series are great to put a smile on your face. This film entry is no exception to that.

jacobs-greenwood Less than an hour into this movie, the character played by Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson (whose mildly racist part as the stereotypical scared Negro chauffeur; I guess Willie Best was unavailable) utters something like "this is getting pretty monotonous", which accurately sums up this third and last of the Topper comedy films.Without Cary Grant (only in the original Topper (1937)), Constance Bennett, nor even director Norman Z. McLeod, title role actor Roland Young and Billie Burke (along with new addition Joan Blondell) find themselves having to carry a too convoluted and nonsensical script who purpose at least seems less contrived to exhibit its Oscar nominated Special Effects than did the second film (Topper Takes a Trip (1938)) in the series. This one, directed by Roy Del Ruth, was written by Gordon Douglas and Jonathan Latimer, with additional dialogue by Paul Girard Smith, based on the Thorne Smith characters. Seawright shared his Academy Award nomination with Elmer Raguse, whose Sound Recording was also nominated.The lovely Carole Landis plays Ann Carrington who, along with her friend Gail Richards (top billed Blondell), was summoned to return home to her wealthy father's estate to meet him (H.B. Warner) for the very first time ostensibly before he passes away; he's tended to by an overbearing physician, Dr. Jeris (George Zucco). Naturally, there's also a suspicious looking butler (Trevor Bardette) and a suspicious acting maid (Rafaela Ottiano). A cab driver named Bob (Dennis O'Keefe) had driven the women part of the way there before an attempted assassin had shot out one of the taxi's tires.Along came the frequently befuddled and henpecked Cosmo Topper (Young) with his chauffeur Eddie (Anderson), who were more or less 'forced' to give the ladies a ride to the Carrington Estate, reputed to be a haunted mansion; it is a house complete with hidden passageways et al. Topper's wife Clara (Burke), who'd seen her husband driving past their home to the neighboring Carrington place with Gail on his lap, is (as usual) needlessly jealous and later, along with her maid Emily (Patsy Kelly, who'd played Burke's maid in director McLeod's Merrily We Live (1938), also with Bennett) comes to the estate.Somebody is obviously trying to kill Ann, but the same black masked assassin murders Gail by mistake instead. Now a ghost that can appear and disappear at will, with or without her clothes, she then involves a reluctant Topper and the skittish Eddie in the case. Incompetent police Sergeant Rogers (Donald MacBride) and taxi driver Bob, who not only wants to be paid but was smitten by the beautiful blonde Ann, later arrive and the shenanigans ensue, eventually leading to a revelation of true identities and a solved mystery.Hal Roach produced all four comedies referenced in this synopsis, though perhaps he was too embarrassed to put his name on this one.

Spondonman This is one of my favourite movies and another one that my daughter and I have watched repeatedly over the years. It was a second sequel film to the 1937 Topper and most decidedly the best of the three, a perfect mix of murder and slapstick, although we couldn't help but feel sorry for poor old Joan Blondell. It was very similar (in spirit) to Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit in the attitude to death but very different in its attitude to humour.Heiress Carole Landis visits her father at his spooky mansion for the first time with her lively friend who gets murdered by a sinister black cloaked figure. Roland Young played meek and mild Cosmo Topper again, and again beset by ghostly problems to solve and earthly ones caused by his flibbertigibbet wife Clara played by Billie Burke. The difference this time was made by wise cracking taxi driver Dennis O'Keefe, manic cop Donald Macbride and Topper's resigned chauffeur Rochester, who provided a plethora of smart ass one liners throughout the too short film. Favourite bits: the entire cast being ordered into the icebox; Macbride & O'Keefe's continual mutual putdowns (Where's your taxi?/Where do you think it is?); the beautiful scene where Macbride asks Landis to identify the dead body and warns her she will have an unpleasant experience – whereupon she violently screams and faints in a heap; the great George Zucco's mad roving eyes whilst delivering his prime hammiest performance; so many other memorable scenes.But not one second is wasted in a brilliant 88 minutes, it all adds up to a breathtaking roller-coaster ride and wildly improbable fantasy fun. Wholeheartedly recommended.

classicsoncall Now I'm sorry I haven't watched this picture sooner. It's entertaining on a number of different levels, but I particularly got a kick out of Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson proclaiming that he's going back to Jack Benny! And this, in 1941! Along the same lines, taxi driver Bob (Dennis O'Keefe) makes reference to an Orson Welles radio broadcast, and later brings up the name of Charlie Chan. All the name dropping is very cool if you like these old flicks from the Forties, allowing you, the viewer, to be on the inside of all the clever references.Before the picture got under way, I was surprised to see Joan Blondell's name above the title character in the credits. You would think Roland Young as Topper would be top billed, but you get to see why once the story unfolds. Blondell's Gail Richards is murdered in a case of mistaken identity in the story, and returns as a ghost seeking out Topper's help to solve the crime. I probably shouldn't have been so incredulous that Cosmo recognized Gail as a ghost following her death, since this wasn't the first picture in the series. But I haven't seen the others, and I wondered how he could be so nonchalant about it.The picture is backed up with a fine cast of supporting players, with Carole Landis as the heir to the Carrington estate, Billie Burke as Mrs. Topper, Patsy Kelly her maid, and George Zucco in a bit of a red herring role as the creepy Dr. Jeris. Close your eyes when Clara Topper speaks and you'll swear she's channeling one of the munchkins from Oz, which wouldn't be too far off considering she was the Good Witch from that earlier classic. Even the animals get into the act, with a comical magpie landing on Rochester's shoulder at one point, and a sea lion pushing him back into the water after each fall from the rigged chair. That actually got a little annoying after a while, but Rochester seemed up to the challenge.But, and this is a big but - what's with the huge disconnect at the end of the story with the Henry Carrington impersonator (H.B. Warner)? He killed Gail Richards, and attempted to kill Ann Carrington, but after he died in the car crash and became a ghost himself, his character pooh-poohed his role in the story as if nothing happened? I just didn't get that, and neither I think, will you.NOTE*** After seeing this picture last night, I watched a Roy Rogers Western this morning whose plot went like this - A young woman about to turn twenty one the next day arrives to collect her inheritance. Her father died in a mine cave-in twenty years earlier, and the dead man's partner then faked his identity to take control of the estate. The picture, from 1948, is "Night Time in Nevada". The young woman even has a girl friend who accompanies her on the trip. She doesn't die, but is suddenly dropped from the story without mention. You have to love this stuff.